Katekyo Hitman Harry Potter One shots
by KatekyoPotter
Summary: These short tales may, at some point, only be about Katekyo Hitman or only be about Harry Potter. I will try to even them out. May include; Violence, angst, death, fluff I don't own Katekyo Hitman or Harry Potter. This is my first time using this site, so if anything goes wrong or I'm doing something incorrectly, please tell me.
1. Chapter 1

What people tended to forget, was that just because Skull was a lackey, didn't mean he wasn't strong or powerful. In terms of flames, his were easily the strongest out of the Arcobaleno.

But nobody seemed to catch on.

Skull was a bit... Disappointed.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Skull, even before the Arcobaleno, was an adrenaline junkie, always chasing after the thrill. Of course, for the first decade of his life his trill-chasing had been beaten down and hidden away, but Skull was addicted to the fire rushing through his veins as he flew around or battled.

Even after the war that plagued his people, he still wanted more. Even after the second war which killed off the rest of his people, Skull missed the feeling of exhilaration.

Of course, he was haunted by the wars and by all the blood and death and _everybody run_ and _EVERY WIZA__**RD FOR THEMSELVES**_ \- but he was Skull and he'd left it behind. He went into stunts. The stunts gave him a flicker of the feeling he'd been without since the war ended, and when he was in the air, his long-lasting apathetic thoughts lifted for those precious moments.

The letter, the I Prescelti Sette intrigued the apathetic war hero, and he donned his masks. After all, what was life without a little fun, eh?

When he was instantly regarded as the lackey, Skull debated playing along or ruthlessly ending their little delusions right on the spot.

He wanted to demolish them, kill them slowly then send them to everlasting hell just for that one word. He wanted to show them the power of the lackey, **show them that he was the **_**Master of Death**_ **and they would bend to his will.**

But he didn't. He played along, screeching and stumbling and all around being an annoyingly loud little lackey.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Originally, Skull didn't mind being turned into an infant. He was the Martyr, he could adapt.

But then Luce - sweet, kind, lying Luce - uttered those words.

"It was all for the Greater Good!" She defended weakly.

Skull couldn't deal with that, he couldn't. Those - those words, those horrible, horrible words.

Luce's head snapped around to him, "No, no - Skull no, I didn't mean that - No, Skull - " She cried, much to the others' confusion.

Skull didn't care. His eyes burned with hatred and self-loathing as he started silently trekking down the mountain they had been tricked up.

He ignored her cries.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Skull disappeared for about a decade.

A purple haired child named Cherep joined an orphanage. He stayed there for as long as he could without gaining suspicion before he moved on to a new one. And a new one, and a new one, and a new one.

He eventually reappeared.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Luce was dead, Skull was told when he stumbled into Reborn. Skull had missed the funeral.

Skull didn't care, he'd signed the paperwork finalising her death himself. His heart - his stupid, naive heart - had forced him to send her to a good afterlife, despite his initial hatred. He just - didn't care.

_(Luce's tearfully thankful face when she saw him on her introduction to the afterlife wouldn't leave him for a while)_

Reborn was furious with him for disappearing, and made it known. Colonello - the guy that replaced Lal, apparently - quickly took after Reborn in terms of Skull's treatment at their hand, and Lal cold-shouldered all of the Arcobaleno, especially Colonello. Verde kept himself holed up in his science labs, still searching fruitlessly for a cure.

Aria, Luce's daughter, kept to herself.

That was fine, Skull didn't mind.

He had weekly tea visits with Fon, which made him happy. The calm martial artist was certainly in Skull's good books. He also visited Vi-Mammon from time to time. Skull liked visiting Mammo, and his acting skills bloomed as he hid his amusement at the Varia's other officers.

Skull liked the Varia, they were nice - In a weird way.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Something big was going to happen, Skull realised one day. His senses were tingling, whispering warnings, chanting alarms like mantras.

His internal alarms blared for weeks on end, leaving Skull with no sleep. The Cloud drove himself into a frenzy, preparing himself. The warnings practically screamed the thrill the Cloud had been missing.

Finally, the alarms told him to go to Mammon.

So he did.

**.**

**.**

**.**

The Varia officers, including Xanxus, were all in one of the most well-enforced meeting rooms the Varia had. Xanxus told them all about his planned coup, and they were sorting out the details.

That was, until there was a knock, with an overly cheerful voice chirping, "Mammon~"

The doors swung open, the Cloud Arcobaleno skipping in. He climbed atop the table the Varia were sat around, grinning wildly, his usual helmet nowhere to be seen.

"Mou~ That'll be ten thousand euros for interrupting~" Mammon told the Cloud.

Skull was not at all bothered by that. He stared at Mammon for a few moments, before he moved onto Belphegor, then Lussuria, Squalo, Leviathan, Xanxus and finally Ottabio.

He showed no reaction while he did this, except a mild curl of his lip when he looked at Leviathan. That was, until he reached Ottabio, the snobby Cloud Officer.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Found you!" Skull said gleefully. He let a bloodthirsty grin take over his face, "DIE COWARDLY TRAITOR!" He yelled, mainly for theatrics.

He lunged at the Cloud Officer, who quickly ducked out the way.

Skull forced the other Cloud onto the defence as he toyed around, revelling in the exhilaration.

Ottabio seemed to realise he was going to lose and die, as he sped around to Xanxus and attempted to murder the Varia boss, only to find himself frozen and unable to move. "Wrong move~" Skull singsonged.

The Master of Death lurked to the surface. "See you in hell." Skull said bluntly, before he slit the other Cloud's throat.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Skull turned to the Varia, still grinning. He let his killing intent wash away, and said, "Sorry about that, I just really hate traitors, you know?"

Xanxus grunted, "Welcome to the Varia, trash."

**.**

**.**

**.**


	2. Chapter 2

In all Skull's years, and he'd lived for plenty, he'd never, ever went on the rampage that all Clouds were supposed to. Sometimes, he imagined himself as too heroic, too good, to ever truly rampage. Other times, he knew that wasn't the case. He wasn't heroic, and he wasn't hiding some fantastic power. He was just... Weak..

He didn't have the strength to rage at anybody, even if they drove him past the breaking point, even if they shoved him off the edge. He was too cowardly to get angry, too fearful to speak out. He was _useless_. The worst thing about it? No matter how hard he tried, no matter how hard he remembered what they did, he just couldn't hate them. He was _useless_. There was always a little nagging voice in the back of his head, telling him no.

_"You can't do that, what if they hurt you?" The voice nagged._

_"Don't do that, you're just the lackey, you have no say." The voice nagged. _

_"Stop being silly, you don't have that power." The voice nagged._

_"Just give up already, you can do nothing." The voice nagged._

Skull wished he could be stronger, but he was too scared to wish for it genuinely. He didn't even have the strength to rage at them in his own mind. All he did was scream and quiver and cry and flail.

He couldn't even hate _Checkerface_, and Checkerface had used him for centuries, warping his mind and killing him new self when he got bored.

He knew that he had been someone before an Arcobaleno, before Checkerface entirely, but he just didn't have the strength to get his memories, his power back. And for that, Skull wished - _but wait, no, "stop being silly Skull"_ \- he could hate Checkerface, but Checkerface had stopped him from doing even that.

Sometimes, Skull dreamed he was free, drifting in the sky like a real Cloud - But was he really a Cloud? Or was that Checkerface's doing too? Skull didn't know.

Other times, Skull knew his chains would never break.

**...**

When Reborn's student, Decimo, bargained with Checkerface, Skull - just out of the hospital - felt hope blooming in his chest. He stumbled closer, observing closely as Checkerface thought it over. Checkerface was going to agree, he thought, half a minute before Checkerface _did_, in fact, agree. He wondered when he'd learned to read his captor so well.

That didn't matter anyway, Skull would be let free - Was it even possible? Was he dreaming? - and he could drift around, just like he'd always wanted to.

Skull felt bravery, bravery he'd never had, surge up in him, squashing down the ever-present nagging voice. He didn't feel all there as he tripper clumsily over to Checkerface. He could read Checkerface's smirk, even with the mask.

"Will you - Will you free me, now?" He asked, mindless of the startled looks from those around him. "Will you let me go?"

He stared at Checkerface, feeling like he was staring through the man's soul. "Or will you keep me, warp me around like you always have? Will you make me forget again, tie me to new puppet strings?"

Checkerface rose his hand, but this time, Skull didn't flinch.

"Oh Skull," The monster crooned, "How strong you've become..."

Skull didn't twitch as it's hand trailed his face.

"All you had to do was ask," The monster taunted, "But oh wait, you couldn't do that, could you?"

Skull felt Reborn cock his gun, pointing it at Checkerface, unfaltering. Fon's smile, Skull felt, was a little strained. He did wonder why.

He heard Verde's drones whizz around nearby, and the tell-tale sounds of Colonello's rifle.

"Very well, I have no use for puppets that are thinking for themselves."

They both knew that wasn't true. Checkerface had let Skull torture himself with thoughts for decades - Skull wondered if his other selves had been allowed to think freely.

Checkerface's hand rested on Skull's cheek, and sharp nails dug into his skin. Checkerface drew blood, and the horrible creature laughed as Skull fell back, clutching his face with wide eyes as memories and thoughts and personalities and appearances mercilessly drove into his brain, ruthlessly lashing out at every mental thought he had.

Skull screamed.

**...**

He was Rico.

She was Sheila.

She was Sammie.

He was Marcus.

She was Roxanne.

He was Rory.

He was James.

He was Souta.

He was Cherep.

He was so many people.

Rico; War veteran, distrustful, wary, paranoid. Closed-off, unsociable.

Sheila; Happy-go-lucky, naive, innocent, betrayed.

Sammie; Smart, calm, serene, powerful.

Marcus; Hot-headed, powerful, restless.

Roxanne; Cold, merciless, strong, robotic.

Rory; Fun, smart, cool, observant.

James; Intelligent, scientist, observant, egotistical.

Souta; Sad, immortal, powerful, strong, observant, caring.

Cherep; Creepy, misty, bloodthirsty, dark.

And finally, the first two.

Alaude.

Before that, however, he had been - she had been, Sephira. A Sky.

Suddenly, Sephira took control, glaring fiercely at Checkerface. Skull's chibi figure morphed into an adult woman with short dark hair and fierce silver eyes, "Kawahira." She uttered coldly, condemnation dripping from her tone, "I bet you didn't know you were puppeteering me when you decided to warp my reincarnation."

Checkerface paled, Sephira knew.

"Now, my other selves have quite a bit to say to you." She warned, before suddenly Sephira morphed away into a tall, blonde man with sharp grey eyes and handcuffs dangling from his side.

"Checkerface." The man murmured lowly, "You took me down when I was mourning my Sky."

That was a low, thug-like move. Everybody knew that elements were at their most vulnerable after the death of their Sky, and while that made some happy, others thought it improper to attack a mourning element - Though that didn't stop some from attacking anyway.

"I have had centuries to get over my loss, and centuries to prepare. Ready yourself," The man gave a bloodthirsty grin, "I'll arrest you to death!"


	3. Chapter 3

The Arcobaleno had finally done it - they'd finally succeeded.

They'd finally broken him.

_(Now he would break them) _

Skull De Mort, the lackey, prided himself on many things. Some things were acts, as he knew he could be oblivious and dense when it came to certain things, other things were true but hidden.

He prided himself the most on his patience. His fuse was the longest, out of everyone he knew, but he was an inverted Cloud, the exact opposite of the easy-to-rile vibe from the other Clouds.

Sure, he would flail and cry and scream, but that was just an act - He never really meant it.

The Arcobaleno, when they had all just met, regarded him warily. But as time dragged on, they slowly became more at ease, less careful when talking to him. Eventually, their relaxation around him began to make them paranoid, and their instincts drove them to beat him down. He smiled through it, even as he covered up the newest scar with a 'fashionable' plaster. He put on make-up, and got a tattoo, if only to distract everyone from his eyes - the windows to his _soul_.

In all the decades he'd known the Arcobaleno, not once had he ever genuinely snapped at them.

He knew, of course, that their treatment of him was wrong, but he just didn't care enough to stop them. The persistent flies bugged him regularly, but Skull was a Cloud, he could reform and drift and do whatever he wanted, and they'd never be able to stop him.

In the present, woven deep with the rest of Skull's bottled up anger, a resentment at _himself_ for being angry grew larger as each second passed by.

The circumstances of Skull finally blowing up came discreetly, hidden under the usual kicks and normal jibes. Skull didn't notice it until he floated in the nearest ocean with Oodako, as he was going over the day's events. Skull usually spent time going over the events he went through in a day, as it helped him calm down and relax and just... _drift_...

They'd insulted hims intelligence, as was normal, and they'd mentioned him having to use Checkerface's pawn to fight for the Arcobaleno Battles.

It hadn't clicked then, but later, rage pooled into Skull's eyes as he realised. They'd called Enma - _Enma!_ \- a pawn. And not just a pawn, but _Checkerface's_ pawn.

He squashed down the urge to go and attack them, after _so long_ of making sure he kept his temper in check. He wasn't going to be riled up by the flies that were the Arcobaleno. _He wasn't_.

Except...

Maybe he was..

The next day, Skull reigned in his fury, acting as normal. He visited the tenth generation, at the party that had been planned a while ago, and told himself that his fellow Arcobaleno hadn't meant what they said. He didn't believe himself.

He pranced about with his usual flair, skipping over from one group of people to the next, deliberately butting into conversations when he knew he wasn't wanted - he was _never_ wanted - and just generally annoying people.

Eventually, he settled down at one of the tables. At the table, the other Arcobaleno - minus Fon, Mammon and Verde - , Decimo, Nono, Iemitsu Sawada and Enma.

He sat down, and quietly helped himself to some food, pretending to be oblivious to the mocking looks some of the others at the table shot at them. "Lackey." Reborn greeted curtly.

A spike of annoyance tugged at Skull's patience, but he'd had decades of practice reigning in his temper, in those odd moments where the other Arcobaleno actually annoyed him.

"Reborn-senpai!" He chirped cheerily, grinning widely.

Iemitsu Sawada rolled his eyes, but Skull still pretended he didn't notice. Everything was fine. Nothing was wrong.

They hadn't insulted Enma.

They hadn't insulted his s- Enma.

They hadn't.

Really.

At the other side of the table, Decimo eyed everyone nervously.

"Finished licking your wounds, lackey?" Colonello sneered.

Skull laughed obnoxiously, "Wounds? What wounds?"

Lal scoffed, "As if you didn't know."

"We've all heard," Iemitsu said, "about how you had to use one of Checkerface's useless pawns as your representative for the Arcobaleno battles."

The glass Skull was holding cracked a little, but nobody noticed.

Enma shrunk in his seat, looking down resignedly.

"He's worse than how Dame-Tsuna used to be," Reborn contemplated, smirking.

Skull didn't think it was possible for Enma to shrink any further, but then again, he hadn't quite thought it was possible for him to be so _angry_, either.

"I'll kill you..." Skull whispered, and nobody heard.

"Useless," Iemitsu muttered, "A fitting representative for the weakest Arcobaleno, no?"

The rest of the table, excluding Nono, Decimo and Enma, laughed. Nono, Skull knew, didn't laugh out of politeness that a Boss needed, but Skull suspected that Decimo was actually offended on Enma's behalf - The two had become quite good friends in the short while they'd known each other.

Skull discreetly put his hand under the table to hide the crackling of Cloud flames his hand was emitting.

Then, Iemitsu had the _gall _to continue, "What's he even doing here, Tuna-fishie, what are either of them doing here? The weakest, stupidest Arcobaleno, and the most useless boy on the planet - he's not even got proper flames!"

"And, there has been no documentation of the Cloud Arcobaleno actually using flames properly, perhaps the rumours are true - Checkerface made a mistake with the Cloud Arcobaleno, and now he'd made a mistake of a pawn - "

Iemitsu never got to finish his sentence.

Quicker than anyone could blink, Skull had lunged and grasped Iemitsu's throat, shoving him to the ground. Cloud flames burned around him, severely damaging Iemitsu, who was under him, and also keeping away anyone who could try and stop Skull.

"_You may insult me_," Skull hissed, faintly aware that everyone at the party had stopped to look, and therefore, were hearing his every word, "_and nothing will come of it. The Arcobaleno have done that for decades - But don't you ever,_ ever, **insult **_**my son**_."

Skull tightened his hold around Iemitsu's throat, and snarled.

Iemitsu looked close to passing out, but Skull wasn't finished. He poured some of his Cloud flames into Iemitsu, and watched in satisfaction as the man writhed around, just as any Sky would when an element more powerful than them tried to _bond_.

If Skull hadn't known this pain for Iemitsu would happen, he would've never attempted to bond.

Slowly, Skull turned his head around to look at the Arcobaleno. He shot them a bloodthirsty grin, and had his flames attack.

He'd known, since the start, that his flames were the strongest out of all the Arcobaleno, with Fon in second, Reborn third and then Viper. He'd wished, for years, to show them that He was the strongest, but he'd held back.

Now, as he watched his flames choke his fellow cursed ones, he laughed coldly.

"I have put up with every kick you have thrown at me, ignored you as one would a fly, but you have crossed a line, and I will never forgive you. Enma is not weak, and he is certainly not _Checkerface's pawn_."

"One more word slandering him, and I will slaughter you all, just as I did once with another set of Arcobaleno, when I was playing another persona. You may think you know me, but all you know is an act. I have been around for centuries, longer than the Vindice, and I will not let some petty _children_ harm _my son_, verbally or otherwise."


	4. Chapter 4

Skull knew, before he walked into that room, on the top of that mountain. Before he met those people, before he got that letter, before he was cursed.

He knew.

Balance.

He didn't See, no, not like they could. No, he couldn't See.

He just knew.

When he was born, he was normal. His eyes were bright violet, his hair naturally purple, but otherwise he was normal.

Except he wasn't. Not really.

**...**

It was normal for babies to cry, but Skull kept silent. He made no noise, no indication of even being there at all. He was silent. His parents did not understand, as a runaway assassin and a damaged soldier, both had no clue anything was wrong with their little miracle.

In the night, while the assassin and soldier sat curled within each other's embrace, little Skull cried. He did not bawl, nor did he wail, he just let tears roll down his face.

He was a baby, he shouldn't have that kind of control. But he did.

**...**

Until Skull was six, nobody realised something was wrong. His parents certainly didn't realise there was a problem, they were uneducated in the children's department.

No, the person who realised something was different about Skull would teach him his most valuable life lessons.

The person was a boy seven years older than him, who was smart, incredibly so. Smart and sneaky. He budded up to Skull, tangling himself in the web that was Skull's heart. Then he started asking questions, simple at first, such as - "Who do you think will win that football match?" Or, "Who do you think will win in that fight?"

Perfectly normal.

Skull knew. As soon as the questions were shot at him, even sometimes before the question was shot at him, he knew. So he answered. He answered and he kept on answering, again and again.

The boy was delighted. He asked more and more, he just kept going. Until soon it went to, "If I stabbed that man tomorrow would the police lock me up?" and, "If I stole some money today, would I get away with it?"

Skull didn't realise he was being manipulated. He did anything the other boy asked, answered anything he asked, he thought that their 'friendship' was normal.

"If I hurt you, would you tell?" The boy asked one day.

Skull's mind stuttered to a halt.

His thoughts processed much faster than normal, especially with the extra ones that stemmed from questions. So it was worrying that all his thoughts just stopped. Except for one - one traitorous, traitorous thought - that told him the answer to the boy's question. "No."

And so, their dynamic changed, and it stayed that way for three years, until Skull's ninth birthday.

**...**

Skull knew what was happening was wrong, he knew but he also knew that he wasn't brave enough to tell. He knew and he hated that he knew.

But one day, one day when Skull's school teacher asked them to write about their parents, Skull thought. His mother was a discharged and damaged soldier, his father was an assassin who ran away after being forced to kill his sister.

When school ended, he went to his house, as normal. Except then, he asked himself, "Where does mother hide her gun?"

He knew.

He took up the gun and hid it in his clothes, and then he went over to the older boy's house. He knocked, just as normal, and the older boy answered, just as normal. For an hour, he chatted normally, he smiled despite the bruises. And then, just as the older boy went to speak - to ask him a question, he knew - Skull interrupted.

"If I killed you now," He started, "Would I be caught?" The older boy stared at him uncomprehendingly.

_(Heknewheknewheknewheknew)_

"How do you fire a gun?" He asked himself, continuing on.

_(Heknewheknewheknewheknew)_

"How do you clean up blood?"

_(Heknewheknewheknewheknew)_

"How do you destroy all traces?"

_(Heknewheknewheknewheknew)_

He smiled.

_(It wasn't a nice smile)_

"If I killed you now," He drawled slowly, drawing out his gun, "I would not be caught."

The older boy's eyes widened fearfully and he paled, and then - Then, he died.

A victorious, sanity-killing smile marred the younger boy's face. Violet flames curled around him, engulfing him in a warm cocoon of_ safe_.

**...**

Nobody ever found out.

**...**

"He's a prodigy!" The teachers gushed.

"He's so helpful!" The children admired.

"He's a miracle!" His parents crowed.

"He's a murderer.." A voice of his past murmured lowly. "A murderer and a monster."

**...**

Skull didn't care.

He learned his parents collective skills because he knew, he knew and he couldn't stop knowing.

It was as if the figurative dam had broken when he had killed the older boy. Questions didn't set off knowing, anything did.

**...**

In the dead of the night, every night, Skull would wake up sweating and crying because _he knew_.

He knew that his mother would die on his fourteenth birthday.

He knew that if he walked with one girl in his class to school, he'd fall in love and she'd be hit by a car the day he went to propose.

He knew his father would turn abusive after his mother's death.

He knew he'd become famous as a stuntman.

_(Heknewheknewheknewheknew)_

He couldn't stop knowing.

He knew her death, his death, their deaths. He knew her loss, his loss, their losses. He knew that answer, this answer, every answer. He knew her future, his future and their future.

_(Heknewheknewheknewheknew)_

He couldn't stop.

He knew her pain, his pain, their pain. He knew that knowledge, this knowledge, all knowledge. He knew that skill, this skill, every skill. He knew her secrets, his secrets, their secrets.

_(Heknewheknewheknewheknew)_

He couldn't.

He knew her danger, his danger, their danger. He knew that outcome, this outcome, every outcome. He knew that person, this person, every person.

_(Heknewheknewheknewheknew)_

He -

**... **

He hated knowing, but he knew he'd never stop. And he hated that he knew that too, just as he knew he would.

Occasionally, Skull would try to interfere, when he wasn't being all-around apathetic. But then he realise mid-way through that if he did, there'd be terrible consequences that would leave them dying in pain - worse than how they would've died without his interference - and he'd stop.

_("HELP! WAIT NO! DON'T LEAVE! PLEASE! HELP ME!" A woman screamed at him as a man dragged her off._

_"Somebody! Somebody please! Help I'm stuck! Please!" A man screamed as he hung on to the side of a crane, "Please!"_

_"Mama! Dada! MAMA!" A child screamed as he was pulled away.)_

Their voices haunted him constantly.

He couldn't block them out.

He barely got any sleep, and he had to register himself for homeschooling when panic attacks started plaguing him daily.

**...**

He was fourteen and his mother died. He knew.

His father turned abusive, just as he knew he would.

**...**

He became a stuntman, the Immortal Skull, the man who even Death hates.

Just as he knew he would.

_(Heknewheknewheknewheknew)_

He played his part, he predicted the outcomes.

_(Heknewheknewheknewheknew)_

He became famous, he annoyed people with his characteristic personality.

_(Heknewheknewheknewheknew)_

He got a letter.

_(Heknewheknewheknewheknew)_

**... **

He trekked up the mountain and entered the small room. The others were already there - _(Heknewheknewheknewheknew) _\- and they stared at him as he came in.

They called him lackey - _(Heknewheknewheknewheknew)_ \- but Skull didn't mind.

Luce was fake, but that was alright, because Skull was too.

**...**

They trekked up a different mountain. Luce hid her sorrow well, but Skull knew.

Skull closed his eyes as the curse settled upon him, he didn't open them for a few minutes. Luce was crying to the others, begging for forgiveness, because it was all for the greater good.

_(Heknewheknewheknewheknew)_

When all the others had left, Skull still stared silently. The Sky Arcobaleno looked tearfully up at him.

"I knew." He whispered.

And then she knew too. She started crying again, for an entirely different reason. "Oh Skull," She sobbed, "No, not you, not you Skull, no!"

Skull left.

_(Heknewheknewheknewheknew)_

**... **

The curse was broken.

_(Heknewheknewheknewheknew)_

They had to stay together again to grow again. Skull didn't care.

The months passed. And then Skull knew something else.

A death date.

It shouldn't have bothered him, it shouldn't have! It never had before, it hadn't!

Reborn and Fon were going to die in two days while they were visiting Vongola Decimo, protecting an injured Decimo and Storm guardian, they would be shot. The bullet would pierce through Fon and go straight into Reborn's heart. In Fon's attempt to still protect, he would bleed out.

He - He didn't want it to happen.

**...**

Two days later, Skull casually visited the Vongola mansion, expertly hiding his nervous twitches.

The attack started and Skull was ready, because he knew. And just when that bullet was about to be shot at Fon, Skull stepped in.

The bullet lodged itself inside his heart, but Skull wasn't worried about that, he couldn't die, after all.

What if Fon and Reborn were still shot? What if they were captured and tortured to death? What if he'd doomed them to a much slower, more painful death? He didn't know.

_(Heknewheknewheknewheknew)_

H-He - He _always_ knew - _always_ \- why didn't he know? - _Why didn't he know?_ -

He'd always wished to stop knowing, but without knowing, he felt helpless and scared.

He didn't know what was happening - H-He - He didn't - He didn't know -

_(He didn't know)_

What if he really did die? What if he ended up killing everyone by saving them? What if they hated him for his - his curse? What if - What if - What if!?

_(He didn't know)_

Skull was scared. Really, truely, scared. Scratch that, he was terrified. He didn't know what was happening!

_(He didn't know)_

_He __**didn't **__know._

_He didn't __**know.**_

_**He **__didn't know_**.**

**...**

When Skull stepped in front of that bullet, Fon was surprised. But he didn't keep that emotion for long as he killed the man who shot his friend.

The attack was ended quickly, Fon had to watch as Decimo's Sun Guardian put his fingers to Skull's neck and quietly shake his head.

Reborn carried Skull out, Fon following behind. They went to the Arcobaleno mansion (Still theirs, as they were the last Arcobaleno) and laid him down on a hospital bed. Then, they waited.

They waited and they kept waiting, silent.

Eventually, 12 hours later, Skull's eyes fluttered and his chest rose. A single bullet was coughed up by their Cloud before he sat up, gasping for breath. Fon went over with a drink of water and Skull gulped it down greedily.

Then, to both his and Reborn's surprise, he pulled the Storm into a hug, and gestured for the hesitant hitman to join. Reborn, to his own surprise as well as theirs, joined, if a little stiffly.

Despite Skull's outgoing attitude, the Arcobaleno had long since noticed that the only one he would ever initiate contact with was his treasured octopus, Oodako. When Luce had been around, Skull had tensed during every hug she had bestowed on him.

_(The reason was that contact made all that knowing try to overwhelm him and it took effort for him to stand upright and okay, but they didn't need to know that)_

The Cloud was especially clingy for a few days, for some odd reason he seemed worried about them. But then, four days later, Skull suddenly relaxed. Something had to have changed, but nobody knew what.

**...**

It took four days for his knowing to come back. In those days, Skull was - to put it simply - terrified. He clung to Fon and Reborn as if they were his lifelines, anxiously wondering what will happen.

Not knowing was certainly the worst thing ever to happen to him. Skull welcomed his gift - curse, he would later mutter - with open arms, he didn't care that any thought of a good night's sleep went out the window. He'd not been able to sleep anyways thanks to the sudden not knowing.

But knowing, knowing made him feel secure. Fon and Reborn wouldn't be dying for a long time.

**...**

Subconsciously, Skull started spending some more time with the others after that. He initiated contact with them, he called them randomly, he did small things that he didn't notice.

The others did, but they chalked it up to the scare of dying.

Also subconsciously, Skull's first protective instinct was to protect his heart - unless there was anyone for him to protect, which there wasn't - so that he never went through not knowing again. The others didn't really understand - He'd never been scarred by a death before, why now? What changed? - but they accepted his protective instinct and didn't mention it.

Then suddenly, he knew that Viper was going to die mysteriously in one day.

The others were certainly surprised when he began prowling around Viper like a territorial cat. Again, he was shot in the heart, but Viper didn't die, and so he dealt with the few days of not knowing.

**...**

Not knowing again was hard, so Skull asked all the other Arcobaleno to stay with him for a week. They agreed tentatively and started unconsciously protecting their Cloud. Something was making their Cloud anxious, and they didn't know what.

The day after they'd all went back to the Arcobaleno mansion, Viper's safe house that Viper had been staying in exploded. It just made Skull more jittery. He got worse when they left his sight, so they deliberately 'found' reasons to stay all in the same room.

Skull deflected any questions to what was wrong, and the Arcobaleno were at a collective loss of how to deal with it. Skull had never, ever, not told them anything.

**... **

It took the whole week for his knowing to came back, and the instant it did, he relaxed and sagged into the sofa he sat on. The others looked over at him, surprised. Skull took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

_(Heknewheknewheknewheknew)_

He loved that he knew.

**...**

It was as if the world was against him after he'd saved Fon and Reborn, he thought a minute later. His shoulders tensed and he opened his eyes, "We need to leave, now." He said, and when they didn't move he grabbed at them and started pulling them away. They cautiously began walking after him and Skull started into a run, "C'mon, c'mon, faster! Go faster!" He screamed back at them. They quickened their paces and were soon beside him, racing down the corridors. "We've got to get out!"

They were only a few metres away from the exit when things began exploding. "C'mon, faster!"

And outside they did get. They got outside and had to watch as their mansion exploded.

"How?" Reborn asked dangerously, "How did you know?"

"I-I - " But Skull had no time to answer, "Get down!" They dived to the ground just as an explosion rang out.

**...**

**I may do a part two, but I'm not sure. What do you think?**


End file.
